UPDATE: FRIDAY 1/30/09Alison,
Yes, the bus does take an Amherst child to the Pelham school and we appreciate your stated desire to not infringe on this child's privacy. Having him ride a regular bus is a cost-saving measure; van runs for individual students are far more costly than adding a short distance to a bus route. Bus routes do occasionally change during the course of a year to adjust to changing needs. We will look into updating the description of the routes on the website.
Our bus insurance covers our buses whether they are in Amherst or Pelham. All of our drivers carry walkie-talkies and can be reached in case of an emergency.
Helen
Dr. Helen Vivian
Interim Co-Superintendent of Schools
Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools
170 Chestnut Street
Amherst, MA 01002
413-362-1823
From: Alison Donta
To: Helen Vivian ; Kathleen Anderson ; Elaine Brighty ; Andy Churchill ; Sonia Correa Pope ; Catherine Sanderson
Cc: Peter Crouse ; Tracy Farnham ; Michael Hussin ; Marianne Jorgensen ; Michael Katz ; Debbie Westmoreland ; sharickr@ARPS.ORG ; suarez-wl@ARPS.ORG
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2009 9:28 AM
Subject: Re: problem with bus
Helen...
I appreciate your reply. I would like to request a copy of the current bus route for Bus #8, as I would like to know where my own child is on his way to and from school. I am also requesting that you send a copy of the updated bus route to Ray Sharick and to Lianne Suarez-Werlein at Fort River (whom I have cc'd here so they will know to be on the lookout for the updated schedule) since they are in charge of the children on Bus #8. I am hoping that either they or, more appropriately, you inform ALL the parents whose children ride Bus #8 of the change in route.
I also cannot imagine why the updated bus route cannot also be posted immediately on the ARPS web site. In fact, none of the Fort River bus routes are currently posted on the ARPS transportation web site http://www.arps.org/node/79 which I find unusual and potentially distressing to any parent who might want to look up their child's bus route.
Additionally, I look forward to the answers to the other questions in my original email:
--Are there more children who are not attending school in our district that we are busing elsewhere?
--How many kids (not counting the ELL kids) do we bus to schools that are not their district-assigned schools?
--How much time does it add to the time of bus route 8 to make a detour to the Pelham School? (You have now told me that it is a cost-saving measure to drive one child to Pelham, but what does it add to the time the other kids spend in the bus?)
--Why isn't this route to Pelham School published?
--How many kids (not counting the ELL kids) do we bus to schools that are not their district-assigned schools?
--How much time does it add to the time of bus route 8 to make a detour to the Pelham School? (You have now told me that it is a cost-saving measure to drive one child to Pelham, but what does it add to the time the other kids spend in the bus?)
--Why isn't this route to Pelham School published?
My final question is: "since my neighborhood bus already goes to Pelham for one child, would the rest of us on the bus route now have the option of choicing into Pelham and having our children bused to and from school daily as well?" I realize that this is not likely to occur this school year but next year, would that be an option for any of us on Bus #8? Given space availability in Pelham School, of course.
Looking forward to learning more.
...Alison
###############################################################
Original Post (Wednesday)
This morning my son, a sixth grader at Fort River, complained to me that###############################################################
Original Post (Wednesday)
his bus was now "always late" since they "changed routes." When
questioned, he said, "yeah, now that we have to drop that kid off atPelham
School, we are late."
Since Pelham School is NOT in our elementary
district and according to the published bus routes, his bus does NOT go to
Pelham School, I did some investigating. First of all, I double-checked
his bus route which can be found at: http://www.arps.org/Busroute/FR4.htm (route
also copied below in case the link mysteriously disappears). This was the
bus route I am familiar with. It does not list a stop at Pelham
Road.
Next, I spoke with our vice-principal who was very helpful and assured me
that the kids were not late but didn't seem to know whether or not they went to
Pelham School. She directed me to the ARPS transportation office.
I called and spoke with Peter Crouse who confirmed that this bus was not
late but did tell me that the bus did go to Pelham School. I wanted to
know why. His answer was "to drop off a child who goes there." He
further explained that the bus "had to turn around near Pelham School anyway, on
Amherst Road." According the map I consulted, the published bus route does
not actually take the bus onto Amherst Road since it leaves Harkness Road at
Stony Hill. I then asked if this child was an Amherst child or a Pelham
child. He told me it was an Amherst child. So my question to him
was, "so we are paying to bus a child who is choicing out of our
district?" He replied that "it wasn't really a choice child...more like
open enrollment...kind of special needs." He said it was "a long
story," and not wanting to infringe upon this particular child's privacy, I
didn't push the issue. (Let me be clear, my issue is NOT with this child
or what is best for that child but instead what is best for our
financially-strapped school district.)
So, my questions for you, as my elected officials are:
--Why are we busing an Amhest child to Pelham?
--Are there more children who are not attending school in our district that
we are busing elsewhere?
--How many kids (not counting the ELL kids) do we bus to schools that are
not their district-assigned schools?
--How much time does it add to the time of bus route 8 to make a detour to
the Pelham School?
--Why isn't this route to Pelham School published? Don't I, as a
parent, have the right to know the route my child is taking to get to
school? What if there were an emergency in our family and I had to track
down my son and tried to catch up with the bus on its route? I understand
that temporary detours might be required due to weather, road closings,
etc. But to permanently change the route (Peter Crouse told me that this
child had been doing this all year) and not publish it doesn't seem right.
What are the liability issues for our town? We must carry insurance
on those buses and be required to file routes. What would happen if Bus #8
got into an accident in Pelham? Would our insurance cover that since the
bus wasn't in town as it was supposed to be?
This seems to me to be another sign of lack of fiscal responsibility,
accountability, communication, and leadership on the part of our school
administration. I elected you to represent me and to make the best
decisions possible not only for my children but all children in town. As
such, I would not only like some answers but also see some action taken on this
matter.
I have cc'd the Regional School Committee members on this because I realize
that transportation is coordinated regionally and also because the same interim
superintendents are in charge of both districts. If this problem exists
for one bus, it is highly likely that similar problems exist for other bus
routes. Given the tragic accident earlier this year involving an ARPS bus,
I think a thorough investigation into this department is called for. If
nothing else, I would like the EXACT bus routes for ALL buses updated (and
published) to reflect the true routes that the buses take when transporting our
most precious cargo every day.
Alison Donta-Venman, 1 Dwight Circle
From: Alison Donta
To: andersonk@arps.org; brightye@arps.org; churchilla@arps.org; popes@arps.org; sandersonc@arps.org
Cc: farnhamt@arps.org; hussinm@arps.org; jorgensenm@arps.org; katzm@arps.org
Sent: Tue, 27 Jan 2009 3:42 pm
Subject: problem with bus
44 comments:
Dear Alison Donta-Venman,
Get a life.
Crouse provided information. You should go to the Superintendent for an explanation of the policy, and how it is derived... Federal Law, state law, discretionary, etc.
What you should not do is cry wolf and CC ever School Board member. I hope they don't waste their time responding. They can direct the Superintendent to do so.
There are laws in this state which dictate how long a time (maximum), students are allowed to be on a bus/van when being transported to and from school. Those laws are being violated daily in Amherst.
Daily.
The two pin-head above have NO CLUE.
"If this problem exists for one bus, it is highly likely that similar problems exist for other bus routes.
Given the tragic accident earlier this year involving an ARPS bus,
I think a thorough investigation into this department is called for.
If nothing else, I would like the EXACT bus routes for ALL buses updated (and published) to reflect the true routes that the buses take when transporting our
most precious cargo every day."
Keep looking people, keep acting.
Maybe there wont be a next time.
But every second matters.
Call me a bureaucrat, call me an education major (I will plead guilty to the latter) but I think this shows chronic mismanagement in the school district.
First - yes Larry - I can think of educationally (and fiscally) sound reasons for possibly doing this. Perhaps it is a choice of Pelham versus a very-expensive out-of-district SPED placement at $55K plus transportation. Perhaps it is at the request of law enforcement - and quietly ask your cop buddies why they might make such a request. Or perhaps it is an easier (but not the right) way to deal with a personnel issue in the school, instead of firing the teacher, you give the kid an opportunity for a different school.
Second, there should be a board-approved policy for such things. There should be a stated policy and while FERPA precludes the district from releasing specific information on any child, they ought to have a policy that they could fax you (or have it on the web).
Due process includes the right of all other parents to be treated equally and one of the requirements of this is for the parents to know of precedent. So if Johnny gets to benefit from this policy, Suzie can too.
Third, the issue of SPED budgets statewide is a very real one - and there is a need for an outside audit of the legitimacy of some (not all) of the placements. I tell the story of the girl (not in Amherst) who had to have out-of-district placement for years until she wanted to play high school hockey and then she went back into the regular system.
Is it justified to put this child in Pelham? Someone ought to ask the Superintendent to justify it. That is the job of the board in executive session...
Fourth, these are the same buses that transport high school kids and if they aren't ensured for the other towns in the larger district, someone should be fired.
Fifth, and as someone who once drove a school bus -- while you *can* make a 3 point turn to turn around, and while it *is* part of the road test to get the license to drive the bus -- backing a bus is damn dangerous and best avoided.
Backing a bus is best avoided, backing a bus with kids in it (who may be making noise) is even better avoided. If you can run over a kid driving forward (and I am NOT saying anything other than the fact that this happened) it is far FAR more likely to happen in backing up the bus.
So there is a safety argument for going an extra mile up to the more safe circular turn at Pelham Elementary. A bus gets about 4MPG so you have burned an extra gallon of fuel and spent a couple extra minutes, but still, do you want safe or quick?
Peter Crouses greatest talent: lying
But he is not very intelligent (at all) so usually after 5 or 6 minutes you can see through it.
Get to know the man, it's important.
There is also a Homeland Security aspect to this. And I am being very careful how I say this.
About a year ago - maybe more - Homeland Security issued a warning about school buses. (It may or may not have been public, but it was widely covered in the media.) They suggested that it might be a good idea for parents (etc) to get to know the drivers so as to know it is the usual driver on the route or not.
I suggest that it might be a good idea for various parties (police, vice principals, etc) to know the exact routes of the buses so that if - heaven forbid - something was to happen it would be known quick enough for the authorities to be able to stop it.
I may be critical (with cause, due to UMass issues) of the Amherst Police but I have no doubt they would take heroic efforts, at no small risk to themselves, to stop a stolen bus full of kids -- IF THEY KNEW IN TIME.
And in order for them to know that the bus isn't where it is supposed to be, they have to first know where it is supposed to be. And that means fixed routes that may or may not be published, but that the Police and the Vice Principal at the receiving school know.
I am not trying to scare anyone here, but we are no longer living in the '90s and there was that Homeland Security warning....
"Dear Alison Donta-Venman,
Get a life."
Shame on you who said this. Shame on you.
oh goody. Amherst has moved on from the water temperature at Wildwood, parades.... Let's divvy up routes among us and videotape where they actually go. Something smells here, and it's time we put our heads together and figure out what is going on! Thank goodness we have this blog as a highly effective to deal with the problems, since the administrations of the town and our schools are agin us.
Oh god Peter Crause is gonna rue the day he got into this mess but I think this time Larry you have a very legit concern vs the hot water imbroglio
Alison is correct in opening this can of worms. The bus routes are a mess here and wasting money we don't have. A bus for crocker picks up at least one child on Mt. holyoke dr. which is right next door. The high school busses are in and out of the apartment complexes to pick up a couple kids here and there instead of one making one trip through. Why? The MS/HS kids in ALL neighborhoods should be walking to a central pickup. This stopping at every single house, at their age, is laugable.
"Alison is correct in opening this can of worms. The bus routes are a mess here and wasting money we don't have. A bus for crocker picks up at least one child on Mt. holyoke dr. which is right next door. The high school busses are in and out of the apartment complexes to pick up a couple kids here and there instead of one making one trip through. Why? The MS/HS kids in ALL neighborhoods should be walking to a central pickup. This stopping at every single house, at their age, is laugable."
Peter Crouse sets the bus routes.
While we are on the topic of bus routes, can someone please explain to me why we pick up kids who attend PRESCHOOL? My neighbor's son goes to the Crocker Farm preschool (he has NO special needs, just is lucky enough to get that small setting), and he gets picked up and dropped off at his door by a van EVERY DAY. So, we are paying drivers and gas to take kids to and from school even before kindergarten? And our schools are running out of money?!?
If a child attending the preschool is located along a van route, they will pick up the child and/or drop them off. However, they will not go out of their way to pick up a child not on the bus route who isn't special needs.
Why are there three, maybe four, different school buses that go into North Village each day?
Seems to be a tad redundant to me....
Someone's being dropped off by a school bus in pelham? Quick, slide down the batpole into the Cavern of Paranoid Speculation. It's got to be part of a grand plot by the evil school administrators.
"Someone's being dropped off by a school bus in pelham? Quick, slide down the batpole into the Cavern of Paranoid Speculation. It's got to be part of a grand plot by the evil school administrators."
You just don't get it, do you?
I am sorry for those who think I need to get a life. Or that I am "crying wolf" by emailing my elected officials. I am concerned for the welfare of the children in our schools and also for how our tax dollars are being spent.
I have no idea why this child is going to Pelham School...I'm sure this child's family has a very good reason for choosing Pelham. I am not questioning that in any way or even this child's right to be transported to Pelham. I agree with Ed's post that there might be many reasons for this being the best thing for all concerned. I was simply asking for a detailed explanation (and no, I am not interested in any private details about this child--that would not be productive). I am also asking that if my child's bus is, indeed, going to Pelham School every day, then the correct bus route be posted so that parents know where their children are.
While writing to our School Committee about this, I realized that this was very possibly costing us more money and that if this is being done for one child, it might be happening elsewhere in our district. I do know that some children (not including the ELL kids--I know they are bused to different schools for a reason) are bused to schools other than their neighborhood schools and I also wanted some figures on that. Given that transportation has to be highly coordinated, I am sure these figures are readily available and I look forward to seeing them.
I was happy to have already received two responses from our School Committee members. David Hussin responded and indicated that he had forwarded my email to our superintendents and encouraged me to keep in touch with Andy Churchill on the matter. I thanked him for forwarding my email and said I thought it was more appropriate for it to come from him, as their supervisory board, than from me. I have also heard from Catherine Sanderson who seconded my concern about this issue. She has put in a call to Andy Churchill regarding this and hopes to hear more soon.
Given that today the schools were closed due to weather, I didn't expect to hear from our superintendents yet but am sure I will soon. You all may even find out before I do via Larry's blog!
To Ed regarding your comments on making a three-point-turn versus driving further to make a circle at Pelham School...I agree. I am not sure that is the case for this situation, however. The posted bus route does not take Bus #8 onto Amherst Road where Peter Crouse indicated that the bus need to turn around. In fact, unless I am reading the route and a map incorrectly, it doesn't look like Bus #8 needs to make a three-point-turn at any point (under normal conditions, of course). Maybe there is just a different bus route the bus is taking...maybe it does need to make a three-point-turn somewhere and Pelham School is a safer alternative. I would just like to have the official route.
No, actually, YOU don't get it...not everything is about YOU getting to stick needles in Pete Crouse and Ron B every chance you get. You got fired (probably for just cause)...get over it.
Something tells me that Pete C is not the "villian" in any of this (though I don't know the gentleman) - he has probably been handed his marching orders from above and told to "get it done" without nearly enough financial support or manpower to get it done properly (if the transportation dept is anything like all of the other Town/School depts). So the LAST thing we should do is to publicly chastise/humiliate/judge/etc. the hard-working people who are simply carrying out the wishes of the decision-makers. If we have a problem with policy then let's go to the policy-makers and raise a ruckus there. Leave the folks who have the thankless jobs - such as getting our kids to school safely and on time every single day - alone.
And a side note to Mr. I-Have-A-Vendetta - if you believe so strongly that there is something wrong going on behind the scenes w/in the Transportation Dept why did you wait until NOW to say something? Something tells me that it was "all good" for you until you got fired and now all of a sudden there are "serious problems."
"(though I don't know the gentleman)"
LOL. Get to know him.
Look at all your anonymous posts, being defensive, acting like you know what your talking about, grow a set and leave you name. What Alison is simply looking for is a published route that the bus ACTUALLY takes, simply for safety reasons, which is totally understandable. The reason the child goes to Pelham is that famlies business, and if I understand Alison correctly, its not an issue, she is just simply asking what the bus route is clearly marked. Everyone in Amherst likes to make a stink, and stir the pot, but until you are ready to leave your name, and make it official, you should mind your own business, and go worry about the salamanders.
I was happy to have already received two responses from our School Committee members. David Hussin responded and indicated that he had forwarded my email to our superintendents and encouraged me to keep in touch with Andy Churchill on the matter. I thanked him for forwarding my email and said I thought it was more appropriate for it to come from him, as their supervisory board, than from me. I have also heard from Catherine Sanderson who seconded my concern about this issue. She has put in a call to Andy Churchill regarding this and hopes to hear more soon.
Couldn't you have sent this to the Superintendent maybe CC the school board if you're worried about getting the brushoff. I dunno you end up wasting either Sandersons or Hussin's time.
For the record, I think think the name-calling on this blog reflects poorly on the blog owner and distracts from the issue raised.
Of course it's absurb to trivialize your concern by calling you names and to trivialize my assertion that you overreacted by sending it to all school board members instead of the superintendent.
Commenters are not mature enough to cmment like adults and Larry has made no effort to require registration, which would at least make a person post under the same name/pseodonym every time. Pretty soon we'd know who the baiter and who the earnest commenter is plus the juvenile name-calling would be tamped down.
Actually, Pelham School is in the district - check out arps.org.
Of course, this brings up another issue. Why not close the smaller Pelham school instead of Marks Meadow?
Here's an idea that seems to never get discussed: why do we provide so much transportation? or any? originally school busing was intitiated to enable rural children to get to schools in town when much of our country was agricultural. the school buses were the only transportation available for many of the children.
Now we spend a lot of money providing bus service for children through the town as well as in the outlying districts. And check out how many buses come to school less than full, much less than full.
Why is transportation still seen as government's reponsibility? Why is it so overused?
I used to sit behind the buses entering East street leaving Fort River, one would go through the light at the intersection of East Street and Main Street and then stop at a house on the immediate left. Drive a few yards, stop for the condos on the left, drive a few yards, stop at the house on the left etc.
We have news reports on the "obesity" problem of our children and yet they can't be expected to walk to school a block away or meet at one central location for bus pickup?
Or possibly have a mileage limit that makes sense? a walk in the morning actually could help children be calmer for the time they get to school and have to sit.
Nancy
The Fort River bus routes are not posted on the ARPS transportation page: http://www.arps.org/node/79
Why do we bus children? Because parents don't have jobs they can leave at 2:15 or 3:00 to pick them up. Because we don't want kids walking on busy streets that have no sidewalks, such as Snell or Bay Road. It's true they the didn't have buses in the "olden days" but we also didn't have a town that was so spread out. There was no S. Amherst 50 years ago, except for the area around the S. Amherst common. Picking kids up that live close to a school doesn't matter because the bus is coming in to the school anyway. I prefer that my kids ride a bus than run the risk of getting kidnapped in the less safe modern world that includes tragedies such as Molly Bish.
Imagine 380-400 vehicles arriving simultaneously at the school and disgorging kids all over the place. Talk about unsafe and ungreen.
-Wildwood Parent
I may be missing something, but if we're so worried about pedophiles and kidnappers and terrorists, as some people appear to be, how is publishing the exact routes of where the buses will be protecting the safety of the children?
What about going to a 4-day school week? Lots of districts across the country are doing it now as a cost-saving measure (cuts transportation costs by 20%) and it would also solve the problem of school schedules differing so much w/ work schedules because each school day would have to run longer to make up for the dropped day. Just a thought...
I may be missing something, but if we're so worried about pedophiles and kidnappers and terrorists, as some people appear to be, how is publishing the exact routes of where the buses will be protecting the safety of the children?
------------
You would have a point *IF* school buses were stealth vehicles. IF they weren't bright yellow and very big and clearly labeled as what they are - if we could somehow disguise school buses as trucks delivering home heating oil, that would be one thing.
But since they are visible, since the route information can not be kept secret and can be obtained by any schmuck who simply sees a bus and decides to follow it and/or sits on a street corner and watches for the buses going by, route information isn't going to be kept secret.
And thus security consists of the bystander who knows where the bus should be and calls 911 - and is assertive enough to convince the dispatcher to roll a unit - when the bus is somewhere it isn't supposed to be. The bad people can figure out where the buses go; the buses are, after all, bright yellow and quite large.
So if the bad people either have the info or can get it quite quickly, what is there to loose in giving it to everyone else?
With so many buses traveling up and down East Pleasant Street- why is there a need for so many elementary students to cross the street to board a bus?
The routes need to be reviewed to avoid all the unnecessary street crossings!
The Reviews are in, and critics agree!
Allison’s “School Bus Saga” is the must read story of the year!
“ZZZZZZZZZZZZ”
The Town of Amherst
“Thanks a lot, mom. The only thing you didn’t do was post my picture.”
Allison’s son
“I just want to go to school. Leave me alone”
The kid from Pelham
“Spell bindingly irrelevant!”
Sane people everywhere
“Your medication refill is ready”
CVS
“Did you measure the temperature of the bus? “
Larry Kelley
“Allison, never publish your manifestos”
Ted Kazinski
“You’re a riot Allison, a real riot! One of these days …Pow, Zoom! ”
Ralph Kramden
Maybe you should read today's Springfield Republican (never rely only on blogs for your news).
Top story on the break page 'Schools slash transport funds' (by becoming a tad more efficient with routes, Springfield saves $1.8 million by reducing from 111 buses to 81).
So apparently there are big bucks in busing.
The other article I would lead you to is Front Page above the fold 'Virus Spreads Swiftly' with the lead: "A highly contagious virus that leaves victims with flu-like symptoms has health-care professionals urging Bay State residents to take simple measure like washing their hands to protect themselves."
Further note to Anon 6:49 AM (glad he gets up early on Saturday mornings to check in with my blog): While some of those quips were remotely creative and funny the last one, Ralph Kramden’s “Pow, Zoom!” (Which he usually annunciated with a clenched fist) is not what I consider funny--violence against women and all that.
So just For The Record: if you ever even remotely threaten Alison--or any other woman on this blog--I WILL hunt you down! (freaken coward)
Anon 6:49 AM
The bus routes are important to us parents. We want to know where our children are and make sure they are not driving all over town needlessly. Pelham? Really? I thought only MS/HS were regional? If my kid wanted to go there I'd have to drive them myself.
"Top story on the break page 'Schools slash transport funds' (by becoming a tad more efficient with routes, Springfield saves $1.8 million by reducing from 111 buses to 81)."
Consolidating routes? Seems to me that's what they are doing by dropping the kid off in Pelham.
Dear Allison,
On a serious note, I would never threaten you or anyone. If in anyway my Ralph Kramden reference felt threatening to you I sincerely apoligize. Ralph Kramden ( bus driver ), his wife Alice (Allsion .. Alice ... ) and his famous catch phrase "Pow Zoom" was strictly a quip referencing the late 50's early 60's sitcom that fit into the bit.
Dear Larry,
I attempted to contact Ralph, but it turns out ...HE'S A FICTIONAL CHARACTER! The guy who played him? HE'S DEAD! Freakin coward! Don't you just hate it when dead fictional characters "threaten" you with their classic catch phrases? I know I do. My mother was threatened for years by Betty Boop. What a nightmare.
Ironically the only threat came from (as near as I can tell) a non-fictional character ... you. You are going to "hunt" someone down?
"Shhh be vawy vawy quiet, I'm hunting bloggers!"
Elmer Fudd (also fictional and dead)
P.S. You may want to wait, as it is Duck Season. Wabbit Seaons! Duck Season ...
P.S.S
I've asked the cops to put out an APB on Moe Fine (non-fictional, but dead just the same).
There is a policy on the books that is NOT being enforced concerning the "walk to school" if you live inside of this zone (close to the school itself). Follow the bus that goes down North East Street every morning stopping at the corner to pick up middle school, high school aged kids and turning the corner up Main and dropping them off at the schools. Obesity and a waste of money!
I am not going to be original this time, so all I am going to say that your blog rocks, sad that I don't have suck a writing skills
I read a article under the same title some time ago, but this articles quality is much, much better. How you do this?
Our bus Insurance covers our buses whether they are in Amherst or Pelham. All of our drivers carry walkie-talkies and can be reached in case of an emergency.
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